Diane Martel Death, ‘Blurred Lines’ Music Video Director Dies at 63

Diane Martel, a beloved, prolific music video director who helmed iconic clips for Miley Cyrus, Mariah Carey, Robin Thicke, Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera, among many others, has died at age 63. According to Rolling Stone, Martel’s family said she died peacefully in New York at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital surrounded by friends and loved ones after a long battle with breast cancer.

The native New Yorker with a nose for unique, sometimes provocative visuals was best known for a pair of 2013 videos that pushed the boundaries of the medium, the controversial “Blurred Lines” clip from Robin Thicke feat. T.I. and Pharrell and the mind-bendingly weird house party video for Miley Cyrus’ “We Can’t Stop.”

Speaking about the impact of that rare double-double headline-grabbing duo in 2013, Martel told RS, “My s–t is on point right now. I do have to admit I like being provocative. That’s punk, that’s rock & roll, that’s hip-hop. It’s passionate. We’re not doing pharmaceutical ads.” 

“Blurred Lines” spent 33 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 during its massive run, but it was the lascivious video that drew almost as much attention as the song’s lyrics, which were criticized at the time for objectifying women and playing too loose with notions of sexual consent. The video featured a sprig of mylar balloons that spelled “Robin Thicke Has a Big D–k,” in addition a parade of nearly naked models cavorting with the fully clothed male performers.

Martel told Grantland that her intention was push back against the “misogynist, funny lyrics” in a manner in which the women overpowered the lascivious male gaze, forcing the men to feel “playful and not at all like predators” by asking the models to stare directly into the lens to show that they were in control. She said she didn’t think the resulting clip was sexist because the lyrics were “ridiculous” and the men looked “silly as f–k,” calling her work “meta and playful.”

Several years later, however, one of the models, Emily Ratajkowski, claimed in a memoir that Thicke sexually harassed her on set, grabbing her breast, an account Martel seconded, saying she asked the visibly upset model if she was okay during the shoot and screaming “in my very aggressive Brooklyn voice, ‘What the f–k are you doing, that’s it!! The shoot is over!!’”

Cyrus’ “We Can’t Stop” drew attention as well for its bold, suggestive imagery from the singer who was transitioning from Disney royalty to hip-hop-adjacent provocateur. Wearing gold grillz and writhing on a bed in a white bra and hot pants, the clip featured the then 21-year-old Cyrus surrounded by friends eating sandwiches made out of $100 bills, building french fry skulls, twerking, butt-slapping, pretending to slice off their fingers and dirty dancing with giant teddy bears.

Cyrus’ clip has more than one billion views on YouTube to date, with “Blurred Lines” on the cusp of that mark.

According to RS, Martel was a high school dropout who began making performance and street art in the late ’80s and working as a dancer and choreographer, skills that clearly came into play in her directing salad days while working on dance-oriented clips for Spears, Ciara and Timberlake.

Born in New York on May 7, 1962, Martel got her start in directing in 1992 with the PBS hip-hop dancer doc Reckin’ Shop: Live From Brooklyn, which led to her first music video for grimy rap crew Onyz, “Throw Ya Gunz.” That led to her first of several collabs with Mariah Carey on the dancing in the field video for “Dreamlover,” as well as gigs directing visuals for S.W.V., Gang Starr, Method Man and Ol’ Dirty Bastard.

An early high point was her home video-like video for Mariah Carey’s perennial holiday Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 smash “All I Wan For Christmas Is You,” which featured the singer frolicking in the snow with Santa and an adorable puppy.

Though her work could often push the envelope, Martel also had a keen eye for putting her subjects in a flattering, emotionally direct light, such as the elegant clip for Beyoncé’s 2011 single “Best Thing I Never Had,” which found the singer posing in lingerie and a wedding gown as she kisses of a former lover who never got her, capped by sweet footage of joyous nuptials.

Her reputation blossomed in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with credits including Aguilera’s breakthrough “Genie in a Bottle” and “What a Girl Wants,” Khia’s provocative “My Neck My Back (Lick It),” the Clipse’s gritty “Grindin’,” Timberlake’s dance-heavy “Like I Love You” (as well as JT and Ciara’s “Love Sex Magic”), Alicia Keys’ “If I Aint’ Got You” and Spears’ “3,” among many others.

Though her sweet spot was choreo-heavy pop, R&B and hip-hip, Martel — who notched only one best direction nomination at the MTV VMAs, in 2005 for her work with Francis Lawrence on Jennifer Lopez’s “Get Right” — also dipped into rock as well with the Killers’ “Read My Mind,” the White Stripes’ “Conquest,” the 1975’s “Give Yourself a Try,” The Bravery’s “Fearless.” In addition, she helmed videos for American Idol alums Clay Aiken (“Invisible”) and Adam Lambert (“Whataya Want From Me”), P!nk (“Just Give Me a Reason”), Avril Lavigne (“Nobody’s Home”), John Legend (“So High”) and Addison Rae (“Obsessed”).

Frequent collaborator Ciara paid tribute to Martel in an Instagram post on Friday (Sept. 19) featuring a number of clips from their work together, writing, “You believed in me and I believed in you! You will forever hold a special place in my heart and I am forever grateful for all the magic we’ve were able to make together. I know it was all God! Heaven has just gained an Angel. I love you so much @DianeMartel_ A.k.a. Miss D! Rest In Paradise.” Her final known music video was for Ciaras’ “Ecstasy,” which was released earlier this year.

Check out some of Martel’s most beloved work below.